


Off the Record

by nek0philia



Category: Naruto
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Inspired by The Newsroom, Journalism, Modern AU, News Media, Political, Slice of Life, Workplace Relationship, kakasaku - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:13:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29851005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nek0philia/pseuds/nek0philia
Summary: After two years at a glamorous writing job for a lifestyle magazine, Haruno Sakura applies for a job as a digital producer at a new cable news channel called UKN for a change of pace.But at the final interview, she finds out that she will be working directly under her college professor and former news reporter Hatake Kakashi.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 34
Kudos: 64





	1. Context is Important

Day 0 | Friday

"Do you like the news?" 

Haruno Sakura froze at the blonde woman's question. 

It's been two years since she last found herself sitting at a job interview. Immediately after graduating journalism from the University of the Leaf, she applied for a writing job at a lifestyle magazine called Clover and was selected on the spot over six other applicants. 

She went on to write about fashion, traveling, food, celebrities, social issues, pop culture, and attending conventions, press conferences, and events for PR stories and fluff pieces. Later, she was bumped up to replace someone else as junior editor. 

It has been her dream job to work at a magazine ever since she caught a glimpse of the life of Ino's mother, who worked as an executive for Elfin Magazine. But it only got her so far. Sakura had always been good at what she did since Day 1 and two years later, she found that she'd run out of space to grow at Clover and figured it was time to try her hand at something else. 

Did she like the news? No, she did not. It was tiring to keep up with. She didn't have the willpower to memorize all these people in government and she didn't really care for history or current events. Sakura could easily throw around some word salad to make it seem like she at least knew something...

But this was a news job she was signing up for. 

The woman sitting across her at the desk was eyeing her like a hawk. Ever since this woman walked in the empty conference room wearing that business formal dress and introduced herself as Tsunade, editor-in-chief and head of the news department, she spoke in an authoritative manner while slightly motherly.

And she didn't want to disappoint her. 

"I know this is a news organization so I'm deeply aware that you value facts here and the fact is I haven't really kept up with the news since I graduated college," she answered, feeling a tinge of shame. 

Applying for a job at a news organization but having no interest for current affairs? This woman must have thought she was stupid. 

"But I did grow up with my dad always snatching the remote from me so he could watch the evening news," continued Sakura. "So, I've developed this habit of putting on the news in the background when I come home from work. It's not something I know by heart but it's something I'm willing to learn again."

Tsunade nodded once before glossing over the copy of her resume spread out before her. "I appreciate your honesty, Ms. Haruno. Okay, just one more question. Have you ever heard of United Konoha News or UKN before you applied for the job? Don't worry, you can say 'no'. You're practically hired anyway." 

It took everything in her to keep a calm demeanor and not raise a brow at the fact that this woman had just told her she got the job without even asking her to elaborate on her skills and experience. Tsunade did ask her what her responsibilities were back at Clover but as soon as she was done enumerating them, the woman had already moved on. 

"No, I haven't really heard of UKN," she answered honestly again. 

The blonde waved a dismissive hand. "Understandable. The channel was launched just two months ago, after all. Okay, let me break it down real quick for you. You know the Konoha News Channel on free TV?" 

"Of course, it's on Channel 9." 

"Well, the network that owns KNC has teamed up with a cable service provider to create another channel exclusive to subscribers. UKN combines three news organizations who each have something to contribute to the channel: KNC and two national newspapers."

According to Tsunade, UKN will be using KNC's broadcast resources, The Leaf Press's editorial, its wide reach of reporters, and their inside government sources, and The Suna Times will be the source for all things economics, financial, corporate, and business.

"You, Sakura, applied for a position as a digital producer which means you will be one of the people in charge of what appears on our official social media accounts. It's mostly just Facebook and Twitter, anyway. You're exactly the kind of person I want added to the team but, unfortunately, I'm not going to be handling the digital team myself anymore." 

The pinkette leaned forward, her eyes narrowing a bit in confusion. "What does that mean?" 

"It means I just hired you but you won't be answering to me," explained Tsunade. "We're launching more shows so that's more for me to oversee so we had to assign someone else to manage the team for me. He should have been here fifteen minutes ago," she said, checking her watch for the time before getting up from her seat. "Will you excuse me for a moment? I just have to go see what the hell is taking him so long."

Without waiting for a response, Tsunade walked out and left Sakura alone in the conference room and she took this opportunity to open the front camera of her phone to check her lipstick and her hair. 

* * *

He could kill someone right now. 

Kakashi stormed out of the control room before he could lash out at any of the editors and graphics producers. Thank god no one watched this goddamned channel or else someone would have seen that fucking blunder and they'd be the butt of the joke on the internet by now. 

But he really had it in for the idiot who typed in "hoes" instead of "homes" at the lower thirds of a breaking news item of a fire that razed 73 houses at the Aria Village. Once he had his hands on a fucking computer to see which producer was assigned to that item, they are going to wish they'd burned with those "hoes." 

His last day as the executive producer (EP) of the afternoon newsbreaks and this had to fucking happen. 

"Hope the _hoes_ are okay," he heard a familiar voice teasing while the sounds of footsteps got closer behind him. Then, he felt a hand over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of a bright grin. "Don't you worry, Hatake. Once I take over the afternoon newsbreaks, I guarantee nothing as stupid as that ever comes on air." 

"Get off my back or I will throw you against a wall," he said calmly though he picked up his pace as he walked through the halls

The dark-haired man backed away but still fell into step next to Kakashi. "Didn't hear you screaming anyone's ears off in that control room so I guess that's a good sign." 

"It wasn't the ORAD operator's fault," he said, though he wanted to give that guy good smack at the back of his head for not reading the line of text before pasting it in the lower thirds. "But if I find out which of those bumbling idiots who have the nerve to call themselves writers, I will—" 

"You'll what?" a feminine voice cut him off as he pushed open the doors to the newsroom.

In his rage, Kakashi didn't notice Tsunade, UKN editor-in-chief (EIC) and anchor of their evening news show United 365, standing just a little past the glass doors with a slightly ticked off look on her face. 

The dark-haired man who was going to replace Kakashi as EP of the PM shift newsbreaks gestured in the general direction of the control rooms. "Some dead-brain producer got too excited and killed 73 _hoes_ in a fire instead of saying 73 homes were hit. And now, Kakashi wants blood." 

"Get off his back, Maito. Don't you have to check the final lineup for 365?" sighed Tsunade before gesturing for Kakashi to follow her. "You, come with me." 

His fellow EP walked off to find an empty desk while Kakashi followed the EIC until she stopped in front of Conference Room A. There was someone inside but that was as far as he could tell with the transparent walls of the room covered in frosted glass stickers.

While he was distracted, Tsunade turned to him and gave him a strong flick on his forehead. "You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!"

"We had to do a live report for a fire at Aria Village," explained Kakashi. 

"There's a fire at Aria Village at least once a month," the woman deadpanned. "It's not exactly news anymore so I'm really not sure why you're getting all riled up over a fucking typo." 

The silver-haired man slouched. "You're EIC and you really don't mind that someone in your newsroom committed a terrible blunder and it happened to be an unpleasant word that could prove libelous and potentially turn us into a meme on social media?" 

"Of course, I'm fucking pissed that I probably have a fucking monkey who helps write my script," screamed the blonde with a firm stomp of her foot on the carpeted floor. "But it's not like we have the viewership of Fox or CNN! We only had 30,000 viewers in the two months we've been on air!"

"This channel is a sinking ship and we haven't even left the docks yet," he sighed. 

Tsunade shot him a sharp glare. "Then why did you even take this fucking job?!"

"Because no network would take me after that scandal and I have a car that's not exactly fully paid for yet!"

"There it is! You're welcome, by the way!"

Getting into a screaming match with Tsunade wasn't anything new for anyone in the newsroom. Anyone who'd been in the business for ten years knew how intense she could get. But she wouldn't have become one of the country's most notable news personalities if it hadn't been for her strong personality. 

Tsunade was the one who approached Kakashi and offered him a job behind the camera after Ember TV fired him as a reporter after seven years on the field all because he did that one piece against the company. For an entire year, no other network would hire him for fear that he would turn against them if he found anything worthy of an expose. 

But she stood up to the president of UKN and vouched for him. 

"So, did you finally get all that rage off you or did you want to scream at me some more?" asked the blonde with a smug look on her face. 

He scowled. "I'm good, thanks." 

"Good. Because I just got you a new producer for the digital team and I want you to come say hi," she said, suddenly sounding upbeat as she pushed open the door to the conference room to reveal a pink-haired woman sitting on the other end of the long desk. 

And then a feeling of dread washed over him as he realized who it was. 

Sakura seemed to recognize him from two years ago as her face twisted in confusion. "Professor?" 

* * *

There was once a time Sakura would count the minutes until she could finally be alone with him again. 

But that was two years ago. 

Right now, as she watched him pull up a chair beside Tsunade across the desk, she could feel her heart drop to her stomach. The last time she'd seen him was when he left her crying in the parking lot at graduation day. After he drove past her in his sedan, she never thought she would ever see him again. 

"I knew Naruto and Sasuke were in the class you taught," said the blonde before handing over Sakura's resumé to the silver-haired man. "I didn't think Sakura was, too."

"Yeah, I remember her," he said quietly. Sakura could feel her heartbeat in her ears as he pored over the pages and the writing samples attached, refusing to meet her gaze. 

Tsunade then turned to Sakura while a manicured hand landed on her former professor's shoulder. "Kakashi is actually supposed to be the executive producer for our afternoon newsbreaks but we had to replace him since he has to take over the digital news team for me. You're going to be working _directly under him_." 

Green eyes briefly darted in his direction and she was surprised to find that he actually looked at her as Tsunade said the last three words. 

And then she turned her attention back to Tsunade who stole a quick glance at her watch. "Sakura, I'll leave you to Kakashi. I still have to write my script for United tonight. Kakashi, go easy on her." 

Just like that, the two of them were left alone in the conference room. 

The silence gradually bore on her shoulders like a physical weight. He was still going over the sheets of paper that Tsunade handed to him some seconds ago. From the way his eyes were quickly skimming over the page, she assumed he was reading one of the articles she had published in Clover Magazine which she also included as a writing sample. 

After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, he broke the silence though his eyes were still fixed on her resume. 

"Never imagined I'd see you in a newsroom." 

Had they been inside a classroom two years ago when he said that, she probably would have come up with some clever comeback. But she wasn't a student and he wasn't her professor anymore. He was now her direct supervisor. It was an entirely different dynamic in a completely different setting and in her head, she had already listed down a hundred different ways this was all going to blow up in her face. 

Sakura chose not to respond. She didn't want to say anything to avoid getting off on the wrong foot.

Kakashi cleared his throat before finally meeting her gaze from across the table. "So, what did you do at your last job?" 

Any of his other students may think his voice was as rigid and unattached as it always was during his lectures, but Sakura immediately caught a hint of iciness in his tone. But she couldn't let him get to her. 

"I was in charge of producing articles for our website," she started, sounding a bit more stiff than she intended. "I attended events for PR, interviewed key personalities for our monthly features, and did heavy research on advocacy pieces such as sustainable fashion and protection of endangered wildlife."

He only nodded once. "Was that what you always wanted to do?" 

"Yes." 

"So, what are you doing here applying for a job in news?" 

"I feel like I've already accomplished everything I needed to in Clover Magazine," she said carefully. "And I was told in college that I had potential to become a good journalist so I wanted to pursue it and see what I could do in this field." 

He regarded her for a moment before going back to her resume. "Why didn't you get a job in news media if you'd been told you would be great at it?" 

"I didn't have the passion for it." 

"And you do now?" 

"No," she answered. "But I'm willing to learn." 

* * *

She was all dolled up. 

Well, it _was_ a job interview. But there was something about it all that seemed a tad bit unnecessary. If he asked her to walk into the newsroom right now, she would stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe it was the long tip of her eyeliner or the gloss on her lips. Or maybe it was the emerald green dress that seemed more appropriate for hosting events than it was for job interviews. 

Whatever it was, he was almost convinced that this wasn't the Haruno Sakura he met at the university. 

Almost. 

"I'm willing to learn," she said. 

Kakashi admired many things about Sakura. But as a professor, her eagerness to learn was what won him over. And it was a shame that after an entire semester of growth as a potential news producer or reporter, this particular student of his chose to slip back to lifestyle writing. It was her passion, yes, but it was also her comfort zone.

It was something she already did too well and he felt that she would easily run out of space to grow if she pursued it. True enough, two years was all it took for her to realize there was nothing left for her to learn. 

"It's an entirely different game in here," he said, finally setting her resumé back down on the table. "But I don't believe you're going to have a problem keeping up. You were always a fast learner."

"And you were a good teacher." 

As soon as he walked in the conference room, he sensed how she had suddenly put up an invisible wall and clammed up in her seat at the sight of him... which was why he decided to proceed with the interview professionally. And maybe she didn't mean to, but for a brief few seconds, she actually let them down and looked at him with utmost sincerity from across the table. 

Sakura meant it. 

"Do you have anywhere you need to be today?" asked Kakashi.

"Not until I have to meet my boyfriend for dinner, no," she answered with a slight edge to her voice. 

Ah, there was that word again. Something about the way she used that word around him always rubbed him the wrong way. Probably because it felt like she was verbally reminding him that she had a boyfriend.

Kakashi checked his watch. It was only 3 p.m. "Well, you have a couple hours until then. I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

He neatly fixed her resumé before getting up from his seat and saw Sakura get out of her chair. Kakashi had his hand on the door, ready to open it for her, but he stayed that way until she was close enough. 

"So, this boyfriend..." 

"Still Sasori." 

_Surprise, surprise._

"I see," he said, finally opening the door. But instead of holding it open for her, Kakashi cut ahead of her and took the lead.

* * *

Sakura followed him down the hall until he led her to round the corner to the wider area of the ninth floor of the Sycamore Media Building where the ceiling reached all the way up to perhaps the eleventh or twelfth floor. 

It was chaotic. At one side of the room, there were people who were holding two phones on their ears at once. There were people running around and others shouting stuff to other people at the opposite end of the room. The television screens mounted on different parts of the wall each displayed a different channel.

She always thought the editorial office at Clover Magazine was a stressful environment as it was. But this? This was downright chaotic. 

But weirder still was the feeling of being near him again. What made it so much stranger was the fact that she was being able to walk next to him in a room full of people. She was so deep into her own thoughts that she nearly missed the way other people seemed to be avoiding him or scrambling to get out of his way as he walked through the newsroom.

"That's our news desk," he said, pointing over to the area where people were either talking on the phone and hunched up in front of the desktop, typing away furiously. According to Kakashi, it was where majority of the information being published and aired by UKN came from.

All press releases, reporters' advisories, and other news items would have to be vetted by the desk before news programs and the digital team are allowed to announce them to push them to the public. 

And then, he gestured to the greater area of the newsroom where people were shouting, running around, and rolling their chairs from PC to PC. "And that's the broadcast producers' area or what we just call the _prod floor._ They're the ones who write and decide what goes on our news programs." 

Her former professor explained that it was the broadcast producers' job to process the information being passed on by the desk and create the story, write the script, and oversee the creation of the item before they're allowed to put it on television.

The two sets of double doors next to the prod floor led to the studio while the set of transparent doors that led to tiny office spaces with one desktop in each room were called the editing bays where prod editors put together news items for their newscasts. 

Finally, they walked on over to the small space between the news desk and the last editing bay where a couple tables were put together in a bunch to create one massive table that carried six monitors. Four people were hunched over four of the available computers and two of them Sakura vaguely from Kakashi's class.

"You'll be working with this team," said Kakashi. 

Two of the four pulled their attention away from the screen to turn to her and the blond got up from his seat upon recognizing her. 

"Hey, I know you! We were in the same class," he said before offering his hand. "Sakura, right?" 

The pinkette nodded before shaking his hand. "I remember you, too. Uzumaki Naruto." 

"Naruto's going to be your video editor," he said, pushing the blond back to his seat before gesturing to the long-haired raven sitting next to him. "This is Sai. He's your graphics artist. Over there is Uchiha Sasuke, who I believe you also know from class. He writes the articles for the website in the afternoon. And then, there's Tenten." 

As soon as she heard her name, the brunette sitting on the other side of the desk peered over her desktop curiously. 

"You called, sir?" 

Kakashi waved for her to come over. "Yeah, do you have a second?" 

"Hold on," she said, raising one finger over her head as if telling them to wait before she started typing away at her keyboard furiously. "Naruto, could you prioritize this soundbite from Danzo on Fire's immigration policies? Be sure to censor any curse words. We don't want a repeat of last week." 

"Gotcha!" the blond exclaimed.

The brunette jumped from her seat and rounded the table so she could join Kakashi. 

"Sakura, this is Tenten. Tenten, this is Haruno Sakura." 

The woman offered her hand to shake and the pinkette graciously accepted it. "Cool, you were in Kakashi's class, too?" 

"Uhh, yeah," Sakura replied weakly. 

"Tenten has been carrying both the morning and evening shifts since Lee got tapped to be a reporter," explained Kakashi. "Starting Monday, you'll be taking over as digital producer from 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. while Tenten works the morning shift from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. But she will be staying a couple extra hours for a few days to guide you. Does that sound good to you, _kid_?" 

The pinkette practically froze on the spot and the look on Kakashi's face told her that he didn't actually realize what he said until it was out of his mouth. 

"Yes, sir," came her quiet reply, still taken aback by what just happened. 

* * *

After the introductions, Kakashi walked Sakura back down the hall and to the elevators. 

He still couldn't believe he let that slip out. What was he thinking calling her _kid_?

It was nearing 4 in the afternoon, according to the clock that had been hung between the two elevators. Not a lot of people came and went at the office during these hours so he was pretty sure they were completely alone in the area. 

"You're still with Sasori?" he asked, eyes fixed on the numbers above the elevator, waiting until it counted down to 9.

The pinkette standing beside him stiffened before she weakly answered, eyes trained on the floor indicator, "Yes." 

"Good for you." 

"Was that sarcastic, sir?" 

_Sir_. Right. He wasn't just a professor and she wasn't a student. They were both professionals now and he was her immediate superior. 

_13._

"No," he replied before stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I apologize, Miss Haruno. It wasn't my intention to pry on your personal life. I guarantee you that I will maintain a professional distance moving forward." 

From the corner of his eye, he saw her turn to him. And it was so tempting to meet her gaze but he'd literally just made a promise that he would be professional. So he kept his eyes trained on the descending numbers. 

_11._

"You were right," he heard her say. 

_10._

Kakashi turned to her but she had already taken a few steps forward to meet the opening doors of the elevator. 

_Ding!_

When the doors parted to let her in the empty lift, she took her place in the middle and flashed him a smile. "Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to working with you, sir. I'll see you Monday."

And just like that, the doors slid close. 

* * *

_"Next week is our last meeting so I want everyone to be on time. Class dismissed. All those with asterisks on their papers stay behind and line up at my desk."_

_Hatake Kakashi wasn't a regular instructor of Broadcast Journalism 402 at the University of the Leaf but since Uchiha Obito was deployed overseas to cover a war, he had been asked to take over one semester in his stead. And despite his roguish charm on screen, majority of the class wasn't a fan of his draconian way of teaching._

_Even Haruno Sakura hated him for nearly trashing everything she submitted during the first few weeks. It was a blow on her self-esteem and confidence in her own writing skills, which she'd always considered versatile. Sakura always knew she wasn't cut out for the cut-throat newsroom culture and Professor Hatake only went on to solidify the fact that working in that industry was something she would never dream of in a million years._

_Despite her indifference toward traditional, straight-forward reporting, she still managed to please her other journalism professors. But Kakashi wasn't the least bit impressed with her._

_And Sakura took that as a challenge._

_Over the course of the semester, she studied him—watching his reports on Ember TV's evening news program to learn about his beat, figure out what kind of reporting he did, and identify the things she needed to challenge. Sakura had become unpredictable to him._

_One day, she'd submit an output that effectively reflected his style of reporting and storytelling. The next, she'd submit a paper questioning his methods and other aspects reflected in his stories. It established some kind of competition between the two of them in the classroom that only the two of them knew of._

_And then it turned into something else they didn't want anyone else to know about._

_As she always did, Sakura stayed at the end of the queue as Kakashi began giving students his personal feedback on their paper. When everyone else was gone and the two of them were left, Sakura moved toward the desk in front of the room and handed him her paper._

_She'd already reviewed everything he'd underlined in red ink earlier during class and figured out what it was he wanted her to change but she let him take it from her, his fingers brushing over hers briefly, before he pored over the pages. Kakashi then turned the paper around and showed her something on the last page._

_"Your conclusion was weakly worded," he commented. "You could have rephrased it to bring the focus back to the struggle of communicating science-heavy topics such as diseases or calamities to an audience, which you mentioned in an earlier paragraph. I also would have used the word_ elitist _instead of_ unfair _in your last sentence because... well, education_ has become _more a privilege than a right."_

_"Stronger conclusion," came her reply. "Got it. Is that all, Professor?"_

_"Pretty much," he said nonchalantly, suddenly a different person from the professor who'd been discussing how to package stories for a newscast. Kakashi got up from his seat and proceeded to clean up all that he'd written on the whiteboard as courtesy to the next class. "So, you look all cleaned up. Plans tonight?"_

_The pinkette rounded the table to take over the seat he previously occupied to get a close view of his shoulders as he worked to remove any traces of marker on the white surface. "Actually, I'm meeting Sasori in a few. He's taking me out to dinner for our second year anniversary tonight."_

_She heard him huff. "I swear you keep dangling the word_ boyfriend _just to try and make me jealous."_

 _"I am_ not _," she laughed. "And really? You? Jealous?"_

 _"I'm not jealous," he answered, finally placing the eraser at the corner of the board after finishing up. "I merely stated that you were_ trying _to make me feel jealous. See the importance of constructing a sentence properly so as to not be taken out of context?"_

_When this thing between them had begun, Sakura couldn't exactly tell. All she knew was that she was drawn to him and she would milk every fucking minute she could get alone with him. Maybe it was the way he always made sure she knew that he was perpetually impressed and perplexed by her work without letting the other students know that was how he felt. Maybe she liked secretly being his favorite._

_"So, last meeting next week," said Sakura. "Guess that's the last time we're ever going to see each other?"_

_Kakashi turned her chair around and rested his palms on each of the armrest before leaning over her. "Not really. I'm going to be at your graduation ceremony so I'll still get to watch you in your fifteen seconds of glory when you climb up the stage and receive your diploma. And have you considered my offer yet?"_

_Two weeks ago, he'd told her that Ember TV was currently looking to expand its roster of reporters and he could easily recommend Sakura to the editor-in-chief if she wanted to pursue a career as a field journalist... which apparently was an option for her, according to Kakashi, based on her work in his class and her general academic standing._

_It felt good to know that he thought she had potential. And news wasn't even a passion of hers. It was among the many things she'd half-assed in college._

_"I already applied for Clover Magazine," she chuckled, tilting her head ever so slightly to meet his gaze. Oh, she loved it when he made her feel like she was all he wanted to see. "You know lifestyle's always been my thing. Besides, judging by the stories you tell in class, I'd probably get eaten alive in a newsroom."_

_Her professor flashed her a smirk. "I'm not going to let that happen, kid."_

_A hand went to cup her face before he planted his lips on hers in a soft, deep kiss._

_Sakura had never done anything like this in her life. She wasn't the type to sleep with a teacher and she wasn't the type to cheat on her boyfriend. And yet, here she was in an empty classroom on a late afternoon, doing everything she could to keep from begging him to fuck her again._

_The pinkette pulled away. "So, you're going to be at graduation?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"How about I meet you at the parking lot after the ceremony, then?"_

_"Will you have broken up with him then?"_

_"I told you once and I'll tell you again: I_ can't _break up with him."_

_"Shame," he said, catching her lips in his briefly. "You deserve someone better."_

_"Like who? Someone like_ you _?"_

_"Your words, not mine."_

_Once upon a time, Hatake Kakashi became her favorite professor and Sakura was his best student._

* * *

_For the first time since the beginning of the semester, Kakashi marked Sakura absent. She never showed up for his final class._

_But he held on to her promise that she would meet him at the parking lot one last time at graduation._

_That’s why he was standing against the door of his car waiting._

_Hatake Kakashi never dreamed of becoming a teacher or a professor. But he owed Obito big time for landing him a stint as a reporter for Ember TV years ago and he hasn't repaid the favor since. When Obito was then assigned to fly to Mist to cover the war, Kakashi volunteered himself when he said he needed someone to teach his second semester journalism class._

_The classroom was filled with dolts who either were up in their assess about the news media or only signed up because they probably thought Broadcast Journalism 402 would be an easy pass subject. It used to be under Obito. But Kakashi planned on giving them hell._

_One student stood out among the rest. It wasn't because she was the best writer or most promising journalist in the class. But she was the best student—the one who was willing to learn the most and the one student who showed the greatest development in her writing and producing skills._

_Standing in front of a class for three hours discussing the nitty gritty of broadcast journalism wasn't the most exciting experience but her presence made it a lot more tolerable. And one time, when she stayed over to raise a point she shouldn't have lost over something he shouldn't have corrected in her script, things got pretty heated and they got into an argument._

_One thing led to another and next thing they knew, they were taking off each other’s clothes in the back of the classroom._

_He didn't know she had a boyfriend the first time they did it. The next few times, however, were inexcusable._

_A few times before, he had tried to convince Sakura to break up with her boyfriend._ _He told her it would be unfair to Sasori if she had no plans of turning Kakashi away. He also told her that she deserved so much better than a pothead who always used his artist's block as an excuse to get high. It didn't necessarily have to be the professor she was cheating on her boyfriend with. Just anyone better._

 _It wasn't like he was in love with her or anything... was he?_ No _. It's just that she honestly did deserve someone far better. Plus, he didn't know how much more guilt he could stomach._

_Eventually, he learned to accept that Sakura simply wasn't going to break things off with Sasori for fear of ending the longest relationship she'd been in. But that didn't really stop him from continuing their little fling. It just meant fucking Sakura would leave a bad taste in his mouth every after. Nothing he couldn't endure._

_And then there was the scandal._

_A very explicit video with a recognizable head of pink hair started going around campus two weeks before graduation._

_It was the day before his final class. Kakashi hadn't really received the video himself. However, a fellow instructor got a copy and when he showed it to Kakashi at the faculty room, it took everything in him to not take that fucking phone and throw it out the fucking window._

_Kakashi never took a video of the two of them. They never even so much as exchanged messages or called each other. That was risky stuff. If word got out, it could cost her her academic standing and him his job and reputation. No, that video wasn't his._

_It was Sasori's._

_From what he heard eventually, the school board stripped her of her Latin honors over the incident. Normally, they would only give a warning but being that the video was shot in the library and the sticker on the book next to Sakura showed the school's emblem, she'd dragged the entire university's reputation with her._

_He caught a glimpse of pink from the entrance of the parking lot and saw her start to walk up to his usual spot far back behind the university buses, looking over her shoulder every now and then to make sure no one would see where she was headed. She was out of the graduation robes and wore a grey dress that he could have sworn should be longer than it looked._

_"I don't have much time," she said upon meeting him. She wasn't cheery. She was stiff, stern, and very much cold. Like she just wanted to get this little rendezvous over with._

_"Get in the car."_

_"What?"_

_Kakashi pressed his car keys to open his car and gestured for Sakura to get in. "If you don't have time, then we'll buy you some time. I’ll drive you around for a while."_

_"Kakashi, no. I have to go back. Sasori's waiting for me."_

_"Are you really still with the guy who cost you the honors that you worked so hard for in the last four years?”_ _As if she was finally fed up with his demanding that she break up with him, Sakura turned on her heel and started walking away. Kakashi locked his car door and went after. "I keep telling you: you deserve better, kid."_

 _"Stop calling me_ kid _!" the pinkette growled as she turned to him with a venomous glare. Then he felt two small hands on his chest attempting to shove him. "Maybe the world needs your opinion on everything that's happening but I don't! I'm not a kid, Kakashi. You don't think I know how bad I screwed up already? It's all I can think of lately! But_ _I'm not breaking up with Sasori! He's the only one who was there for me when things were starting to go to hell!"_

_"He was the one who spread the video in the first place!"_

_"By_ accident _! He apologized! He held my hand through this whole fuckery! He was there for me!"_

 _"_ I _could have been there for you if you had_ asked!"

_Sakura pushed him again. "Haven't you done enough already?"_

_"How is any of this_ my _fault?"_

_He watched her bury her lips in her palms and scream with all the frustration that must have built up in her chest over the last few weeks since that video happened. She was lashing out. Tears threatened to fall from the corners of her eyes and he so very wanted to take her in his arms and just let her cry._

_He heard the familiar voice of her boyfriend calling out for her._

_Maybe Kakashi should have held Sakura. Maybe he should have led her to his car and let her cry it out so that her boyfriend wouldn't have to see her like this. Maybe he should have at least handed her a handkerchief._

_But Kakashi didn't do any of those things. Instead, he started walking toward his car before Sasori could find the two of them together. He shut the door as he got in and didn't even bother buckling up before he pulled out of his parking space. On his way out of the lot, he saw a redhead run toward Sakura and wrap his arms around the sobbing pinkette._

_That was the last time he would see her._

* * *

Sakura drummed her fingers against the surface of the table she had reserved for her and Sasori's dinner tonight. 

They agreed to meet at 6 p.m. and it was already 6:41 in the evening. Not a text. Not a call. No anything. She was getting restless... not because she was worried about him but because she just wanted her boyfriend to be here already so she could get her mind off a certain silver-haired former professor out of her head. 

She didn't break up with Sasori. And she kept her fling with Kakashi a secret. 

There were days that she wanted to at least tell her best friend Ino about it but Sakura learned the hard way that if a secret goes out to even one person, it was already beyond anyone's control. And she didn't want to risk it. Because if the university had stripped her of her honors over a sex video that Sasori swore he only showed to Deidara, who knows what they would have done if they found out she'd been sleeping with the professor.

Sakura felt utterly humiliated when that video started circulating around campus... and even more so when it reached three other universities in a span of four hours.

Kakashi had been telling her to break up with Sasori. And she did try one time at the library. But then he started talking his way out of the breakup and convinced her to let him screw her at the section where students hardly ever needed anything.

Instead of finally breaking up with him, Sakura ended her college life with a sex tape and a tarnished academic record. 

She felt so ashamed about it all that she couldn't even face Kakashi... which was why she skipped out on the last day of his class. He was a newsman. He most likely saw the video. And he most likely heard what the university did. But she promised to meet him one last time after their graduation ceremony and she had to at least honor that. 

With every step she took toward him that day, the more it felt like her anxiety was gnawing at her entire being. And when they were finally face to face, Sakura wanted nothing but to run away and never see him again. 

When Kakashi brought up Sasori again while they were waiting for the elevator earlier today, Sakura wanted to shrink into her own skin and prayed that the earth open up and swallow her. She felt like the smallest person in the world at that moment. 

Because as much as she hated to admit it, Kakashi was right. 

It was Sasori's idea to have sex in the library. It was Sasori's idea to take a video of Sakura without her consent. It was his idea to show his best friend the video. It was Sasori's fault the university board ultimately decided to reprint her diploma to remove the words _magna cum laude_ printed in the original version.

_You were right. I deserved better._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a long first chapter but like I said: context is important.
> 
> Also: No more flashbacks in future chapters.


	2. When in Doubt

Day 1 | Monday 

_What should I wear_ _?_

Sakura recalled every single work-appropriate article of clothing in her wardrobe to distract herself from the pressure on her arms, abdomen, and legs. Planking was her least favorite part of her morning workout but it certainly was the most rewarding part of the routine.

After seven reps of 30-second planks, Sakura flipped herself on her back on the yoga mat in her living room and stared at the ceiling while cooling down before starting on her sit-ups as Paramore's "Fake Happy" started playing on her bluetooth speakers.

According to her regular routine, she was set to do five reps of 10 sit-ups. However, given that this was her first day in an office environment that was felt like the complete opposite of her last job and that she would now be working with (or under) her former professor and ex-fling Hatake Kakashi, she figured she needed to fire herself up so she decided to add two more reps today. 

Initially, Sakura planned to spend her entire weekend monitoring UKN's social media pages to get a good idea of what was expected of her. But after that final interview last Friday, she ended up getting pulled on the couch beside Sasori and joined him in binge-watching Stranger Things in their underwear.

She never mentioned to Sasori that she would now be working under her former professor. There was no point in telling him. Her boyfriend had no clue about the fling. He didn't even know what Kakashi looked like. 

"We're out of bread," she heard Sasori say.

After the seventh rep, Sakura pushed herself off the mat and joined him in the tiny kitchen of her 1-bedroom condo. His red hair was still all unruly not because he'd just gotten out of bed but because he spent all night finishing another painting in the terrace... which he promised he would clean up.

"Can you run to the grocery for me while I'm at work later?" asked Sakura, pouring the coffee she left to brew earlier into a mug. "I'll leave a thousand Ryo because I need you to pick up some stuff I need to clean the bathroom." 

She watched her boyfriend plop down on the two-seater dining table and rest his chin lazily on the back of his hand. "I haven't slept all night, babe. Plus, I have to run to Deidara's place real quick tonight for some supplies." 

Usually going to Deidara's apartment meant getting high and not coming home until before sunrise but she wouldn't dare call him out on it again. Not after he dangled his usual artist's block as an excuse just last month. 

No, that was unfair of her to dismiss his artist's block as a mere excuse. Painting was his passion. Sasori was talented and was going places. And he usually did get his best ideas after a good pot session. He was doing what he needed to take his career off the ground. It wouldn't be right to discredit his effort. 

Just because he wasn't working a 8-hour office job doesn't mean he was a bum. She was actually jealous that he was actually brave enough to pursue his passion. 

"Alright," she sighed. "I guess I can stop by the convenience store on my way home tonight." 

* * *

"Good afternoon, sir." 

"Haruno," he greeted back with a nod. 

Kakashi sat by the vacant desktop beside Sai and watched as Sakura walked past the news desk, rounded the desk, and sat on the unoccupied seat between Tenten and Sasuke. The head of pink hair disappeared behind the computer monitors that divided the table in two sides.

Just as she did last Friday, Haruno Sakura stuck out like a sore thumb in the newsroom in a dressy jacket and a flowy top with material so thin that she was most likely going to regret in a few hours. The digital area's desk was just under one of the newsroom's many air conditioning vents... which they never turned off even during the winter. 

Everyone else around her, especially those in her team (even Kakashi himself), were generally dressed down for comfort while she still looked like she had a job interview to catch after her shift. 

Over the course of the weekend, he'd distracted himself from the fact that Haruno Sakura would be working in the same department as he was. In fact, he did everything he could to forget the fact that his former student had all of a sudden reappeared into his life after the messy way they had left things between them.

"Good afternoon, Tenten," he heard her say from the other side of the desk. "I love your hair today." 

"Thanks! I love your lipstick."

"Oh, thanks! It's Montego Bay from Nars. It was a freebie at this PR event I went to last month," came her answer. 

"It's really pretty. If you have it with you, I'd love to try it on later. But right now, I have to brief you on our work process. I'll be here to help you out until 7 p.m. That's when the news starts to die down, anyway." 

Nice segue.

He'd seen Tenten during Friday night drinks at the bar across the street. Despite her easily excitable personality, he admired her focus whenever they were in the office. The woman worked fast and could easily digest information as soon as the information came in from the reporters and the desk. Whenever she sent a pitch on their Slack channel, he hardly ever needed to revise anything. 

He could only wish he'd be able to say the same thing about the latest addition to the team.

From his seat, he could hear Tenten talking Sakura through the goals of UKN's social media pages before giving her access to their accounts. And then, the brunette started to walk Sakura through the process of vetting or verifying information through the desk or sometimes directly from the reporter. 

Through it all, Sakura did that thing where she would _mm-hmm_ every now and then to let the other person know that she was listening and that she completely understood what they were talking about. 

He felt himself losing interest in hearing Tenten go through the basics of digital news so he unlocked his phone and checked other necessary Slack channels in case there were any other concerns that needed his attention. Though the channel named _prod-alertspm_ was no longer Kakashi's territory (since Gai's takeover of the afternoon newsbreaks began today), he still opened it just to see how things were going. 

Apparently, things were not good on Gai's first day as EP.

_:Where the hell is this SOT we're airing in 8 mins  
:@genma r u exporting yet   
:He's not in his bay  
:@izumo find ur editor im at dan's office_

If there was one good thing that came out of Kakashi's attitude in the workplace (which he'd heard people describe as "terrorizing" and "troublesome"), it was that he never had a problem with his producers and editors going missing. 

With an aggravated sigh, Kakashi pushed himself out of the swiveling chair and stalked to the smoking area, where he was 97% sure he would find the editor. 

Genma wasn't the fastest or most creative editor they had but editing the news has been his job for the 15 seven years. His editorial judgment when it came to deciding on which clips to use for packaged news items may not be the best in the business but it was unparalleled in this small newsroom. 

When he reached the pushed open the heavy metal door to the open space on the second floor, he found the brunet halfway through a cigarette, laughing with broadcast graphics producer from the morning shift. 

"Shiranui," he called from the door, refusing to take another step into smoker's territory. 

"Hey, man," Genma greeted casually with a lazy wave before turning back to his conversation with the graphics guy. 

"Shiranui, you're assigned the first two takes on the next news alert airing in eight minutes. Are you even finished editing?" 

The brunet clicked his tongue before flicking his half-finished cigarette clumsily on puddle of water. Genma excused himself from his friend and started toward the only entry and exit point of the smoking area. 

As he closed in on Kakashi, he narrowed his eyes on his former supervisor. "I was just rendering the second video. You're not even my EP anymore." 

"It's not a reason to slack off. Get back to your bay." 

The editor walked past him, mumbling something about Kakashi being such a pain in the ass. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard in his twelve years in the business. At least that new associate producer Shikamaru had the guts to say it to his face. Although he had been told that he was a lot easier to work with a few years back. 

On his way back to the newsroom, he ran into Tsunade who was just getting out of the makeup room with a freshly done face. 

"Hatake," she greeted, falling into step beside him. "How's your first day away from broadcast?" 

"Tenten works fast," he commented. 

The blonde woman shrugged. "Yes, she does. How's the new girl working out for you?" 

"Tenten's still going over the basics. I also thought it would be better if she were hands-on with Haruno during her two weeks so I asked her to stay over a couple more hours."

"Good call," the woman said with a nod. "You busy? Dan stopped by my office earlier with scotch." 

"It's 3 in the afternoon." 

"And I don't have to be on air until 6 p.m. It's just one glass. Don't be such a narc." 

* * *

Sakura was starting to fall behind. It was easy to keep up at first but there were too many technicalities to take in with regards to their work flow but she had yet to process the information Tenten was continuously dumping on her but she didn't exactly want to ask her to slow down. No, she could do this. 

She just had to ignore the occasional shouting in the room and the sound of heavy footsteps running across the room every now and then.

"Did you understand everything or was it too much info?" the brunette smiled sheepishly, obviously already knowing the answer. 

"No, no, I got it," said Sakura. "So, basically, I take information sent by the news desk or tweets from reporters, write a caption and maybe a card then send it to Slack and wait for... _him..._ to either approve it, revise it, or shoot it down completely."

"Exactly! Then, once he approves it, either Sai works on the graphics you requested or Naruto cuts the video you want," she said, switching the window on the screen back to Slack. "But sometimes you have to tap Naruto on the shoulder because he's either watching Ragnarok gameplay videos on YouTube or blasting Ariana Grande on his headphones." 

A blond head suddenly popped above the monitor across Tenten from the other side of the desk. "It's Anderson Paak! I'm taking you off my Spotify family plan!"

"Joke's on you, Uzumaki, I've had my own for two weeks already," the brunette spat back matter-of-factly. 

"Then who's the other person on my plan?" 

"Probably Lee," Tenten said before waving a dismissive hand at Naruto. "Now, if you don't mind, Sakura and I still have a few things we need to go through."

The brunette got up from her seat and walked toward the thick pillar wedged between the digital area and the news desk and pointed to the television screen which was parted in 16 smaller screens labeled with one letter and one number each. Some of the boxes showed similar images while the others were empty. 

"This is our control monitor. Sometimes, during important events, like when President Danzo speaks in public or when the police has an important press conference, just find the feed on this monitor and tell Naruto which one you want live on our Facebook page. He'll be the one to call up to the control room so they can switch which video to feed down here." 

Tenten rounded the pillar and Sakura followed her until she was standing before the messy work area of the news desk. 

"This is the news desk," said Tenten, gesturing to the general area before them before pointing to the short-haired brunette currently on the phone. "That's Rin. She works the desk during afternoons, sometimes 'til late night. You'll be working with her a lot. And then that's Hinata. She just started two weeks ago but she'll also be part of the PM team. 

"Since they coordinate a lot with reporters and the prod floor, their hands are usually full so sometimes we help them by monitoring news on social media—whether it's from competitors or official pages of government agencies and public officials. So, let's say you see that Secretary Kakuzu posted something on the progress of the Skytrail Expressway and see that the desk hasn't put anything like that in the Slack channel _desk-advisories_ , you can just dump it there. Since he's a government official, you won't need to as the desk to vet it for you. 

"But, if you see that The Journal Logs posted that Secretary Kakuzu said something about lagging infrastructure expenditure and you can't find it in our consolidated advisories or any official government page or a verified account of a public official, throw it to the desk and then ask either Rin or Hinata if we could find the same statement. We can only use that statement when they get a copy of it."

Okay, that was a lot of technical stuff. But she was able to digest it simply to: No confirmation from desk or no official source means no pushing on social media. 

Sakura followed Tenten as she walked back to the area designated for the digital team and reclaimed the seat in front of the desktop at the end of the table while Sakura took the one beside Sasuke, whose fingers had not stopped smashing on the keyboard ever since she arrived. 

From what she remembered in class, Uchiha Sasuke was outstanding when it came to writing news. He was fast, knew which angle to focus on, and never got anything less than an A-minus from Kakashi. The raven had been her only competition in the class and he may have stood a chance against her if he weren't so awkward in front of the camera. 

When he seemed to have noticed her watching him start another article (was this like his third one?), he stopped typing and turned to her with a slightly annoyed look on his face. 

"You wanna start working instead of watching me work?" 

The pinkette pursed her lips and turned away with a quiet apology, letting him get back to whatever it was he was doing. 

"Don't mind him," said Tenten before clicking on the switch of the CPU under Sakura's desktop. "During the morning shift, Neji, our AM shift article writer, coordinates with me or the desk if he ever needs additional information but Sasuke likes to work alone. If he needs anything, he gets it himself." 

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Don't bother Sasuke. Got it." 

"Well, now that I've covered the basics, wanna try your hand at your first pitch?" 

"Sure, I guess." 

While waiting for the desktop to boot up, Sakura watched Tenten scroll through the program called iNews to go over the available advisories. When she found nothing interesting, she turned to Tweetdeck and glossed over the competitors' feeds. 

"Damn, slow news day," she muttered under her breath. 

From the other side of the desk, she heard Sai's dull voice. "Careful what you wish for, Ten." 

"Oh, I'm sorry," the brunette deadpanned. "I hope nothing big happens so I don't have to disturb you from another game of Call of Duty with Naruto." 

"I don't play Call of Duty with Naruto," came the graphics artist's reply. "He sucks at coop. I play with Shino." 

"Oh, here!" exclaimed Tenten, ignoring whatever else Sai had to say about Naruto's temperament and strategies when it came to playing. "It's a statement from Governor Matsumoto on the Senate's approval of the national smoking ban. Think you could write a card and caption for this one? Just pick a part of the statement you feel is quotable and then write a copy for it." 

With a nod, Sakura turned to her own desktop and logged in the necessary accounts. Tenten had sent her the advisory via private message on Slack and she read the entire press release from the governor's office. After picking one part of the statement, she wrote down a copy and followed Tenten's format for sending pitches to _UKN-digital_ channel. 

**_CAPTION: Governor Matsumoto Haruhi is raising concern over the Senate's passing of a law that would ban smoking nationwide._ **

**_[QUOTE CARD]  
"While we laud the Senate for passing a bill for the betterment of public health, we do not believe that lawmakers in Congress halls at the capital region understand the impact of this law on the common tobacco farmer in the fields of Dumaga."  
_ **

_**GOV. MATSUMOTO HARUHI**  
 **PROVINCE OF DUMAGA**  
_

Sakura could feel how sweaty her palms were. It was the first message she'd sent to their channel. It was the first news pitch she'd ever thrown in her life. And this would mark the first time in a long time that Kakashi had to read and rate her work. God, he was going to think she was stupid and she was not cut out for this. 

There was a small note under the text box that said Hatake Kakashi was typing a message and Sakura held her breath. Seconds later, her former professor's message popped up as a reply to her original pitch. 

**_CAPTION: Dumaga Gov. Matsumoto Haruhi raises reservations on the passage of a bill that would ban smoking in public places nationwide after Senate approved the measure on the third and final reading._ **

**_Tobacco products have been a key driver in Dumaga's agriculture industry for the last 23 years, according to data from the Department of Agriculture._ **

**_[QUOTE CARD]  
"While we laud the Senate for passing a bill for the betterment of public health, we do not believe that lawmakers in Congress halls at the capital region understand the impact of this law on the common tobacco farmer in the fields of Dumaga."  
_ **

**_GOV. MATSUMOTO HARUHI  
PROVINCE OF DUMAGA_ **

_***abbreviate** _   
_***always speak in an active present voice** _   
_***Congress cannot pass a law, only bills; bills only become laws if president signs or allows it to lapse into law** _

God, she _was_ stupid. 

"That was a good first try," Tenten said beside her, nudging her lightly with her arm. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. The job has a learning curve but Kakashi told me you were a fast learner and I'm really just happy that you understood my template for pitching items. Okay, now all you have to do is give his revision a thumbs up and Sai will make the card for you. Sai, can you put the fucking phone down for five minutes and do this for Sakura?" 

In less than two minutes, Sai was able to send to the digital channel a graphics card with a photo of the Dumaga governor and her chosen quote written on the side. Seconds later, Kakashi gave Sai's message a thumbs up. 

"When Kakashi approves the card, just take the final caption—in this case, the one he sent—and post it on our Facebook and Twitter and then you're all good!"

Sakura saved the image on a new folder she created on the desktop before dragging it to 

The brunette beside her clapped. "Alright, congratulations on your first post! How's it feel?" 

"I'm a little nervous but I think I can do this." 

A blond head once again popped up from the other side of the monitor and gave Sakura a thumbs up. "You totally can! You were kinda the best student in his class, after all. I mean, he's a bit scarier now than he was back then but you of all people shouldn't really worry about that." 

Sakura's face twisted in confusion. The Hatake Kakashi she knew was _strict_. He just had ridiculously high standards he wanted others to meet. But if Sakura had to describe Kakashi in ten adjectives, the word _scary_ or anything remotely synonymous wouldn't come up. 

"Scary? How is he scary?" 

"Well, he's different at work than he was in the classroom," the blond started explaining as he pushed himself so he could roll over to their side of the desk and position himself beside Tenten. "Last week, after you left, he yelled at a broadcast producer right there," he said, pointing in the general direction of the prod floor, "for inputting a typo in the system which got on the air. I mean, we don't have a lot of viewers but yeah. He gets intense about things like that." 

"It said _hoes_ instead of _homes_ ," the raven beside her chimed in though his eyes remained glued to his screen. "If that shit happened to me, I would have quit."

"Stop scaring her!" Tenten snapped before getting out of her seat to walk around the desk before turning to address Sakura. "We're fine. Kakashi slowly started taking over this team last week and nothing like that has happened."

"Yet," added Sai.

The brunette shot him a warning look before turning to the control monitor behind her. "Look, as long as we're careful, none of us will ever have to... Wait, what's happening?" She leaned in closer and Sakura could see her brown eyes squinting at one of the small screens that showed a large hall where people in suits were cramming about. "Hey, Rin, can you check out the feed at A3?" 

Sakura was a few feet away from the monitor but her 20/20 vision allowed her to get a good look at what was happening. The camera was a bit shaky and kept zooming in and out before finally zooming in on a group of people walking to the front and center of the large hall. 

The brunette at the desk who was named Rin left her post to look at a television screen that showed the same thing as their control monitor. 

"That's Congressman Aizen. What are they doing?" she asked out loud before grabbing her phone. "I'll contact our reporter and see what that's about." 

Another person from the desk shouted, "Iruka's not there. He's at Senator Jaeger's office getting a statement for a different story. We only have a cameraman on standby inside the Congress hall." 

"What's going on?" another voice joined in, this time masculine... and booming.

Sakura turned to the tall man who walked into the newsroom in a very structured suit whose long, white hair was slightly unkempt for someone wearing a tie and a jacket that nice. He walked over and joined Tenten as they watched the tiny screen together, obscuring whatever it was that was happening from Sakura's view. 

Even Sasuke, who couldn't be bothered for three seconds, pushed his chair back a little to get a peek. 

"Looks like they're ousting Congressman Hugo as house speaker," he commented. The man then crossed his arms against his chest before turning to the desk. "Tell Umino to get back to the Congress hall immediately. This looks big." 

"Copy that, Jiraiya-san!" the woman shouted. 

Tenten stalked back to her computer and opened her Tweetdeck, scrolling through columns of tweets before clicking her tongue in frustration. "Looks like no one else knows what's happening yet."

Oh good. At least the rest of the world was on the same level as Sakura because she honestly didn't know what was going on. 

"Aizen's taking some sort of oath but the microphone's off. But it definitely looks like an ouster," the man called Jiraiya said before walking over to a vacant computer at the prod floor. As soon as the desktop had loaded, he opened numerous windows, including the iNews, and started looking over everything he could read. 

"Shit," the brunette beside her cursed under her breath, before getting ready to get up. But before she did, Tenten turned to the new producer beside her. "Sakura, can you write a caption on this while I try to find out what the hell is going on?" 

"Uhh, sure." 

"Don't overthink it," said Tenten, giving Sakura a good pat on the shoulder. "Just send Kakashi a caption and get that _Just In_ card I sent you ready. Be ready to break it once we have confirmation." 

Without even waiting for a reply, the brunette got up and walked over to the desk area to help them figure out what the hell was going on. Sasuke, on the other hand, opened a new document on one side of his screen before googling _Sosuke Aizen_ in a new window. 

Sakura, on the other hand, went on Twitter to search for the same name in case anyone inside was tweeting about what was going on... and googled the name as well to learn more about the congressman. She was able to learn that Aizen had been their vice president two terms ago... and that was all. No other news organization had said anything about him just yet so they probably knew just as much as she did. 

"Looks like we _are_ getting a new house speaker," she heard Jiraiya chuckle from the prod floor. "There's a Root reporter on the floor who says the congressmen are passing around a manifesto and collecting signatures to kick Hugo from the House leadership but nothing on Aizen up on the podium." 

From the desk, Tenten shouted over at Sakura. "Got a caption prepared yet?" 

"Uhh, not yet." 

"It's okay. But you might want to have Kakashi check it now. The reporter's on his way to the Congress hall. We'll get it confirmed anytime now." 

Sakura rubbed her hands together in an attempt to get her fingers to stop shaking. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Sasuke was already three paragraphs into an article about Aizen. A good look at the first paragraph gave her an idea of all she needed to type. 

_**Former vice president and Kyoka City Representative Sosuke Aizen has taken oath as the new house speaker.** _

Unlike the first time she'd sent a pitch, it took quite a while before the tiny indicator below the text box told her that Kakashi had seen her message and was typing his response. Half a minute later, another message came up as a reply to her pitch. 

_**Former vice president and Kyoka City Rep. Sosuke Aizen has taken oath as the new house speaker.** _

_**Aizen will replace Bonoka Island Rep. Tanaka Hugo as leader of the House of Representatives.**_

_***wait for confirmation** _

It was a bit confusing how in college they were taught that shorter was better. But, of course, she wasn't going to question Kakashi right now. Not when something that seemed really big was happening in the newsroom judging by the way everyone began shouting more intensely than they had been since she got here. 

Sakura copied the revised caption Kakashi sent in the channel and pasted it on both Twitter and Facebook with the _Just In_ card Tenten had emailed her earlier today. She was careful not to hit _send_ given that they didn't have confirmation on this just yet. 

She watched Tenten running from the computer to the control monitor and to Rin before heading on over to Hinata. Her eyes then went to the prod floor where people were running and typing away on their computers and shouting.

_Can we get confirmation before the 5 p.m. newsbreak?_

_Does the reporter have eyes on Aizen?_

_Pull up everything we have on Aizen and put together a profile segment!_

_Are we going to do a live report?_

It felt a lot like a war zone. And it was far from the life she'd know at the Clover editorial office where it was quiet and the only sound that filled the floor most of the time was the sound of heels clicking and fingers typing at keyboards. Occasionally, the editor-in-chief would come out and shout to follow up on the paid articles that the marketing department wouldn't get off her ass about. But that was it. 

From the other end of the newsroom, she saw Tsunade and Kakashi emerge from a small office, looking around curiously. 

"What's going on? Is Tanaka getting kicked out of the House?" demanded Tsunade while Kakashi stood beside her, scrolling on his phone. 

"Aha! The Day Leaf just confirmed it _is_ an ouster," Rin exclaimed from the desk. 

Sakura looked to her screen. On a Tweetdeck column labeled "Nin Nation News" which listed updates from major news organizations in the country, there was a tweet by The Day Leaf's official account with a card that read _breaking_. And then she looked to the tweet she had ready. Tenten said to wait for confirmation. And Rin, from the desk, yelled that it was confirmed. 

Should she publish it? 

She could feel her hands shake and she closed her eyes before she hit _send_ on the screen. God, maybe she shouldn't have sent it? Her anxiety, however, was alleviated after she saw The Suna Times and KNC, their partner news organizations, tweet the same thing. 

Tenten walked back to her station, sat down and started going through her windows. And when the brunette cursed under her breath, Sakura felt her heart jump up her throat. 

"Uhh, Sakura," she started. "Did you break it on Twitter?" 

Oh, god. She shouldn't have sent it. 

"...Yeah. D-Didn't Rin-san say it was confirmed...?" 

" _Shit_ ," she said. "Uhm. Yes, The Day Leaf confirmed it was an ouster... But we still don't have confirmation from our own reporter. _Shit, shit, shit_. It's got 51 retweets and KNC cited us as their source. We can't—" 

From the other end of the room she heard Tsunade yelling while walking across the prod floor with Kakashi tailing closely behind, eyes still on his phone. "Is anyone writing this for the 5 p.m. newsbreak yet? KNC just broke the news and cited us as the source. We got confirmation, right?" 

The whole room fell silent, everyone else turning to one another as if they had no idea.

And then Rin spoke. "...UKN doesn't have confirmation yet." 

Sakura could feel the color draining from her face as Kakashi finally looked up from his phone and set his eyes on their area. "Who broke it?" 

"Here we go," sighed Sasuke before putting on his earphones. 

* * *

"Who broke it?"

He had already had a good hunch on who published the news online without confirmation. But it was times like these that he was reminded of the important of _asking_. 

From where he was standing, he saw Naruto and Sai eye each other warily before busying themselves on their respective computers, with Sai scrolling up to read previous messages on Slack while Naruto opened Adobe Premier to edit a video they already published two hours ago. From beyond the monitor in front of the blond, he saw Tenten slowly get up from her seat. 

"Sir, we weren't—" 

"Who broke it?" he repeated through gritted teeth. 

The rest of the room had gone back to writing, editing, and whatever it was they needed to do. A few seconds later, a hand shot up from beside Tenten... as if she were volunteering herself inside a classroom. 

Figures. 

Kakashi took two heavy steps before he felt a strong hand pull his arm. When he turned around, he found Tsunade looking pointedly at him. "Take it easy on her. She's new." 

He simply rolled his eyes before turning away. He could make no such promise. 

* * *

Her heart was beating so hard in her chest, she could have sworn the impact would break her ribs. 

It had been a long time since Sakura felt so small under anyone's gaze and the closer Kakashi got to their area, the more she felt like she was shrinking into her seat. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tenten staring nervously at her but Sakura couldn't pull her attention away from her immediate supervisor who could stab someone with the sharp look he was giving her. 

The silver-haired man stopped in front of the vacant computer between Naruto and Sai. 

"You," he said. It was one word but it was full of venom as it was of rage. "Follow me. _Now."_

Sakura doubted he even saw her nod in response before he walked off toward the hallway that led to the conference rooms. Before getting up, green eyes quickly darted over to her fellow producer who only flashed her a nervous smile. The fact that Sasuke was eyeing her like a hawk as she got up wasn't really helping either. 

"Haruno," she heard him call from the hallway. 

The pinkette slipped out of her seat and jogged to follow his voice. She found him standing in the middle of the hallway looking over his shoulder as if he were expecting her to have been there when he called. When she appeared behind him, he continued walking and pushed open the door to the same conference room where her interview last week was held. 

With her head hung low, she followed him into the room and stood in the middle. Kakashi, on the other hand, made sure the glass door was closed before he turned to her. 

He took a deep breath before finally speaking. "What did Tenten tell you to do?" 

She swallowed the lump in her throat, willing herself to look him in the eye but failing miserably. She settled for looking at the carpeted space between them. "To write a caption and get ready to break it." 

"And what did I tell you?" 

"You said to wait for confirmation." 

Another deep breath. "Tenten told you where our information comes from, correct?" 

"Yes. From the desk." 

"And what did the desk say?" 

"That The Day Leaf confirmed it was an ouster." 

"And is The Day Leaf in anyway affiliated to UKN?" 

She shook her head weakly. "No, it is not." 

"Mm-hmm. One last question," he said. From her peripheral view, she saw him stuff his hands in his pockets and take two steps closer. "Honestly speaking, were you doubtful about whether or not you should have sent that tweet? You know, before you published it." 

"...a little." 

"Then don't fucking break something you're not sure of!" He suddenly yelled, nearly making her jump of her own skin. "When in doubt, you _doubt_ the fuck out of what you're writing and _ask_! _"_

Sakura pulled her head closer to her chest and closed her eyes. So, _this_ was what Naruto meant when he called Kakashi _scary_. It was a side of him he'd never seen during class or even after. She felt her breath hitch in her throat and her chest tightening with every beat of her heart. No, she didn't feel like crying but she did feel like hiding. 

"I'm sorry, sir," she started quietly. 

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Haruno. KNC and The Suna Times are running the story based on your tweet. They each have five times the audience of UKN and they're citing us as their source. If this turns out to be wrong, we don't have a reporter to blame and it's all going to be on you."

Life in news was tough—that much Sakura already knew before she applied her. It was why she never signed up to join the campus paper in college and why she never pursued a career in hard-hitting journalism after graduation. She knew that she would be eaten alive in the newsroom. But there was a time when Kakashi swore to her he wouldn't let that happen. 

How ironic was it that he was now the one chewing her out two years later. 

She nodded once. "I understand. It won't happen again."

"I couldn't care less if asking me made you feel stupid. Because believe me, I'd rather swallow my pride and be an idiot for two minutes than to stay stupid for the rest of my life just because I didn't ask." And then she could have sworn Kakashi's voice softened when he spoke again... like he was talking to himself. "I could have _helped_ , damn it." 

For the first time since she got here, Sakura looked up at her former professor. His jaw was still clenched but his eyes no longer held the same intensity as they did when he was walking towards her in rage. 

Would she dare ask? Well, he _was_ getting on her about the importance of asking. 

"Is this about Sasori?"

One side of Kakashi's lip twitched into an ironic smile. "Clearly," he huffed before turning away from her, looking like he had every intention of ending the conversation there and walking out on her. "Now, see? Was it so hard to ask?" 

So much for keeping a _professional distance_. 

In her frustration, Sakura took the sleeve of Kakashi's jacket in her fingers and pulled with a little force so that he'd be turned toward her again. "Hey! You have no idea the amount of shit I went through before graduation!"

Kakashi pulled his arm from her grasp. "Shit that could have been avoided if you'd just listened to me and broken up with Sasori!"

"No, shit that happened _because_ I listened to you and tried to break up with him!"

"So, it's my fault you're still in that shithole of a relationship?"

"Yes! I mean, no—"

There were so many things she wanted to scream in his face right now but she didn't have it in her to form a cohesive argument with all the fury that was seeping from unresolved issues she'd shelved in the far back of her mind from two years ago. 

"You were the one who chose to stick around with him," he said, taking a few steps closer as he glowered until Sakura felt the conference table behind her legs and could go no further. With his body just inches away from her, Sakura remembered just how tall he was upon seeing him towering over her. "You stayed with him even after everyone in campus watched him doing you in that fucking video!"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "Because I had no one else!"

"You had _me_!"

Sakura froze for two different reasons. First, it was the seething look on his face accompanied accompanied by the fact that he practically growled out at her. And then she was filled with a whole other kind of dread when she realized that they weren't alone in the conference room anymore. 

The pinkette saw the blonde EIC let the glass door swing close behind her before crossing her arms on her chest and leaning back against the wall. If Tsunade's raised brow wasn't enough implication of her intrigue at the scene she walked into, that mischievous glint her eye sure sealed the deal. 

"My, my. I'd love to know what can of worms I opened when I decided to hire you," she said, giving Sakura an amused look that easily turned smug on the anchor's very authoritative features. "Unfortunately, there's too much shit going on in this country right now so I'll have to save that for another time."

She felt Kakashi stop breathing for five seconds, as if he finally snapped out of it at the sound of another voice in the room. With one last pointed look at Sakura, he took two steps back and turned to Tsunade. 

"You needed something?" he asked, as if he hadn't just been in a word war with Sakura when the EIC walked in. 

Tsunade's expression quickly shifted into one that meant business. "Yes. We got confirmation on the Congress ouster. I sent Gai to fill in for me in a meeting with Marketing an hour ago and they're still not fucking done so I need you to overlook the newsbreak. We bumped it down 20 minutes later to give Iruka time to set up for a live report. That should be plenty of time for you to scream the ears off whichever broadcast producer's on it now. It's big news so Jiraiya's going to anchor." 

"I'll get to it then," he said, starting toward the door. 

Their blonde boss, however, put one foot between Kakashi and the door, effectively stopping him in his tracks. "Oh, and I hope whatever this is doesn't get in the way of work because I'd really hate to let either one of you go." 

Hazel eyes quickly darted to Sakura before Tsunade stared back at Kakashi expectantly. 

"It won't," he finally said after a moment. The silver-haired man then pushed the door open and stepped over Tsunade's extended leg to walk back into the newsroom as if nothing happened. 

Meanwhile, Sakura finally found it in her to move her arms and brace herself against the edge of the desk, still reeling from a) getting scolded by Kakashi b) yelling back at him and c) getting caught by their very boss in the middle of their screaming match. What else could go wrong, really? 

All of a sudden, she remembered that she wasn't exactly alone just yet. Sakura's eyes were on the floor but she could see that Tsunade still hadn't moved from the position she assumed against the wall beside the door. She was staring down at her but the younger of the two didn't exactly have it in her to raise her head for fear of what she might find on the anchor's face. 

Seconds later, the woman started towards her and stopped two steps away. 

"Chin up, Haruno," she said, her voice softer and more motherly than it was when she was instructing Kakashi before. The blonde put a finger to Sakura's chin and tilted it up so she'd be holding her head up high. "Nothing about what you published was wrong or inaccurate. You got the story right. " 

Sakura nodded. "Yes, ma'am." 

"I know I don't need to tell you this but I'm going to say it anyway: Just be careful next time," Tsunade said with a wink before leaving Sakura alone in the conference room.

* * *

"You didn't get bread." 

_Fuck_. 

For the rest of the day, Sakura had been living in her own head—fighting her anxieties and sitting on the little chest in her mind where she had locked away the very recent memory of Kakashi yelling at her for publishing a tweet five minutes early. No one at their desk asked her what happened which was probably for the best. 

Sasuke minded his own business for the rest of the night. Sai and Naruto would only talk to her to tell her that they sent the video or the graphics she had requested for. And Tenten only spoke to her when necessary like when she asked Sakura to write a caption for a certain news item or when she explained that the other posts that appeared on the page were cutups from their news programs that were published by broadcast producers. 

Sakura also kept a relatively low profile in their Slack channel. Between her and Tenten, the two of them seemed to have quietly agreed to leave the big, breaking news to the brunette while the pinkette would take the lighter, more feature-ish items. Kakashi, on the other hand, replied to her messages in the same way he did before their little argument.

After her shift, Sakura took a cab from work straight to her condo. And like the dimwit she'd been acting all day, she forgot the one thing Sasori was expecting from her. 

"I'm sorry," she sighed, dropping her jacket on the couch. "I'll just whip up some pancakes before I start my workout tomorrow morning. It was kind of a rough first day." 

"Sorry 'bout that," the redhead said, turning away from her so he could get two bottles of beer from the fridge and setting them on the dining table. "If it helps, I kind of had a rough day, too." 

Sakura joined him to sit in the kitchen to hear about how long he had to wait outside Deidara's old apartment just so he could finally get the set of paint he left over there. And then, she listened to him bitch about how hard it was to paint out on their tiny terrace... which he still apparently hadn't cleaned up.

Despite the fact that Sakura kind of wanted to talk about how stressful her first day at work was, she thought that hearing about Sasori's day did well to distract her from her anxiety. It was probably for the best that she didn't bring home her problems at work back here. Because talking about problems at work meant possibly talking about Kakashi. 

After finishing their beers, Sasori stalked back to the terrace to finish whatever it was he was painting this time while Sakura crawled under the sheets with every intention of going straight to sleep. Unfortunately for her, her mind had no intention of letting her sleep anytime soon as it began replaying excerpts from her word war with Kakashi. 

What was odd that she didn't even feel bad about Kakashi yelling at her. What was actually eating her up inside was the fact that she failed miserably to meet his standards. And then Sakura realized she was starting to feel exactly the way she did during his first few lectures when he would shoot down every output she submitted. 

Damn it. 

While her boyfriend was busy creating a masterpiece out on the terrace, Sakura pulled out her phone and earphones from her bag and rewatched the United 365 episode from earlier today. 

She had a lot of studying to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update this and TWTDU as fast as I can but work has been getting heavier. I hope you'll all be able to stick with me even if I can't update as frequently.
> 
> Trivia: The news item in this chapter is based on a real Congress ouster that happened here in the Philippines in 2018. On the same day that the president was set to deliver his annual national address, one of our former presidents took over the House of Representatives before the speech.
> 
> Newsroom bit: We have a saying in the newsroom that when you have doubts about running a story, don't run it until you're 110% sure you got everything right. Being two minutes late is always better than being on time but getting it wrong.


End file.
